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Identifying Sources in Works Cited Lists and Bibliographies

Works cited lists are very effective ways to find relevant sources for your research. In order to be able to make use of the information in works cited lists, you must be able to identify the kind of source it is: is it a book, a chapter in a book, a jour

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Ann Grafstein
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Basic Information

Every academic book or article has either a Works Cited List or Bibliography. You may find works cited in the form of bibliographical footnotes or endnotes, or, more commonly, a list of the sources used the end of the work. The sources appear in alphabetical order, usually according to author's last name.

These sources can be very helpful for researchers, because a relevant book or article is likely to have used sources that are also relevant to the topic being researched.

Although he examples of citations provided in this tutorial are in MLA 8 (Modern Language Association) format, the diagnostics--the tools you can use to distinguish one type of citation from another--are the same across formats, including APA, Chicago Style, Turabian Style, etc.

To navigate through this Tutorial, use

  • The navigation tabs on the side or
  • The Previous and Next tabs at the bottom of each page

Related Resources

MLA Handbook Plus

An online searchable guide to the MLA citation format. Also includes the MLA Guide to Digital Literacy.

MLA Citation Guide

A guide to citing in MLA format, with specific examples of citations for some of the most commonly-used types of sources.

Library Basics Tutorial

An introductory tutorial to the Hofstra Library. Shows what the library can offer you, how to locate different kinds of materials and how you can get help.

Glossary  of Library & Research Terms

Confused about meaning of some of the terms you run into (periodical, citation, database?) Check out this Glossary, which provides brief explanations of basic terms.

 

 

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